Final Score: Mets 9, Indians 2—Matz and bats come up big

The New York Mets kicked off a crucial nine-game homestand with a convincing 9-2 victory against the Cleveland Indians. After fighting off several threats and clinging to a two run lead, the Mets dropped a four-spot on Cleveland’s bullpen in the seventh inning to put the game away.

The Mets fell behind on a Jason Kipnis solo homer in the second but jumped right back ahead in the bottom of the inning on a J.D. Davis two-run home run. An error and two hits in the fourth helped Cleveland knot the game at two, but Michael Conforto put his team up for good with a majestic home run in the bottom of the sixth. Matz was strong yet again as he threw 6.1 innings while allowing two runs (one earned), and Justin Wilson played a big part by entering with one out in the seventh and striking out two batters to hold the lead.

From there, the Mets strung together four runs against Adam Cimber and Hunter Wood to extend their lead to six. Pete Alonso had the big blow with a two-run double after Joe Panik and Amed Rosario each drove in runs with back-to-back singles. The team tacked on one final run on a Rajai Davis run-scoring double in the eighth.

With the win, the Mets improved to 12-2 at Citi Field since returning from the All Star break and now sit just one-and-a-half-games back for a Wild Card spot.

Full recap to follow.

GameThread Roll Call

Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the GameThread embiggens us all.

1. MetsFan4Decades: 144
2. PJpridezone: 140
3. MookieTheCat: 94
4. JR and the Off-Balance Shots: 85
5. Jets Mets Devils Nets 16: 74
6. Mozballs: 72
7. stickguy: 54
8. deegie: 50
9. The Glider: 44
10. LouMonte7: 39